Six fingers are better than five?

06/06/2019

Who is born with an extra Finger on the Hand, has motor benefits. A recent study by researchers from Freiburg, Lausanne and London shows. People with six fingers, for example, can do some things with only one Hand, for the other people, both hands need.

The scientists studied two people with "Polydaktylie", the have from birth, more than the usual five fingers or toes on hands or feet. In this case, there were two people who had both hands have six fingers. The scientists determined that the additional Finger were controlled by their own nerves and muscles, and independently of the other fingers could be used. As a result, the persons concerned obtained advanced motor skills, enabling them to solve certain tasks with only one Hand, what normally two hands are needed.

All the while your brain was observed activity in the MRI, because the researchers were interested in how the extra Finger can be controlled. They were able to map the brain activity of the sixth Finger exactly. Prof. Dr. Etienne Burdet said: "Although the brain needs to control this higher degree of freedom, we have not found any disadvantages compared to people with five fingers. In short, it is amazing that the brain has enough capacity for it, without having elsewhere to sacrifice something."